Score predictions for every NFL game with analysis of Texans and Raiders

There is no question that the Raiders are going to be ready to play based on the death of long time owner Al Davis, but the fact of the matter is that I expect the Texans to be ready as well. From an emotional standpoint, this game would obviously be much scarier in Oakland, but the home crowd will even the emotional factor out in this one.

The problem for the Texans is that Andre Johnson opens so much of the offense up. With Andre playing, teams have to fear the deep ball but the Raiders prefer to keep 8 in the box to help against the run and we’ll definitely see that with Dre out. The Raiders are a little loose in the secondary with Nnamdi Asomugha gone, but they play plenty of man to man and we’ll have to see if Walter and Jacoby can shake free.

The Texans offense will likely feature plenty 0f 2 TE sets and they have a big advantage with Arian Foster running against a defensive front that allows 5.9 ypc. The Raiders do have talent up front on the defensive side, but they play sloppy fro a discipline standpoint and the Texans should take advantage of it.

On defense, the Texans will have to tackle well. Sounds simple, but it must be done against gamebreakers like McFadden, D. Moore and Jacoby Ford. McFadden will get his on the ground and out of the backfield, but if the Texans can force QB Campbell into a more prominent role, they will take care of business.